POKEMON GOLD AND SILVER WALKTHROUGH

It's not essential that you come here, but it's a very good idea to, especially if today is Monday. Heading east from Pewter City, you'll eventually come across a cave opening, and on entering, you'll be confronted by your rival. He'll attack with a lv41 Sneasel, a lv41 Magneton, a lv42 Golbat, a lv43 Alakazam, a lv43 Gengar and a lv45 fully evolved starter. After the battle, you can head south to the exit, which leads back to Cerulean City, but you should head east and up the ladder. If you do decide to go to Cerulean City, there's an HP Up on the top ledge of Route 4.

During the day, the shop here will be open for business, but on Monday nights, Clefairy will gather here, to dance and pray to the Moon Stone.

On approaching them, they'll run away and you can use Rock Smash to break open the rock and get the Moon Stone. This occurs every Monday so you'll never run out of Moon Stones. You're done here, so Fly back to Pewter City.

South of Pewter City is Viridian Forest, and while there aren't any bug Pokemon inside, you can still get a few items like a Max Potion, Full Heal, Max Ether, Revive, Dire Hit and Full Restore. Use the Itemfinder to help you. On exiting, use Cut to the east to grab an Elixir.

Viridian City's newest feature is the Trainer House, where you can battle a copy of the last person that you used Mystery Gift with. The default is Cal, who has a level 50 Meganium, Typhlosion and Feraligatr. You can only do this once a day though. Also, use Cut or Surf to the west of the Pokemon Center and talk to the man to get TM42 - Dream Eater. Since the Gym Leader is currently out, just continue south to Pallet Town.

You can check out the homes of Red and Blue, the main characters of RBY. Blue's sister, Daisy, will groom your Pokemon from 3pm - 4pm each day and increase their happiness. You can also visit Prof Oak, who will rate your Pokedex.

Surf south of Pallet Town and you'll reach the crumbled ruins of Cinnabar Island. The volcanic eruption has obliterated the township that was once here. You can stop by the Pokemon Center to heal your Pokemon, but really you're here to talk to the lone character behind the building. He'll reveal himself to be Blue, the Viridian City Gym Leader, and will teleport off. Check the narrow path to the north for a Rare Candy, and surf east.

You'll come across an island with a cave on it. If you read the sign next to the Cinnabar Pokemon Center you'll know what's here - it's Blaine, the Gym Leader who has had to relocate his gym due to the eruption.

Although Blaine's Pokemon are quite high levelled, they're far from being a good challenge. Use Rain Dance to your advantage, or just pummel away with moves like Rock Slide, Earthquake and Surf. If you're really worried, bring along some Burn Heal to prevent that nasty side effect of many fire attacks.

When you win, you'll receive the Volcano Badge. You can head to Fuchsia City by following the route east (The boulders in the way have now been cleared), or you can Fly back to Viridian City for your final Kanto gym battle.

Most definitely the hardest battle yet (Why the sudden change in difficulty?). Use an Electric attack to take out Pidgeot and Gyarados, a Water attack for Rhydon and Arcanine, and a Ghost or Dark attack for Alakazam and Exeggutor. Alternatively, exploit other weaknesses such as Exeggutor's fire, bug and flying disadvantages. Your Pokemon should be equally or higher levelled, and should be able to take a good hit or two from Blue's Pokemon. If you find this battle tough, you'll need to level up.

When you win, you'll receive the Earth Badge. Fly to Pallet Town and talk to Prof Oak. He'll congratulate you, and grant you access to Silver Cave, the final dungeon in the game. Return to Viridian City, and head west. Remember this building? You passed by here on your way to the Indigo Plateau from New Bark Town. Head right through to the now cleared exit.

The wild Pokemon here are quite high levelled, so this is a good place to train. Just head all the way west until you spot the Pokemon Center, and use this as a base to train. If you check your Pokegear, you'll see you're back in Johto. If you follow the path created when you Cut down the bush just to the east of the Pokemon Center, you'll find a house where the occupant inside will give you TM47 - Steel Wing. If you continue down the path (Don't jump off the ledge), you'll find a hidden Rare Candy.

Just beyond the Pokemon Center is a cave entrance. Inside is the world's most powerful trainer. You'll need Flash for the first room, but if you're good, you can use the map to the left to navigate. It's a good idea to bring in someone with Waterfall and Surf too, because there's some exploring to do. You can always return to the Pokemon Center and make changes to your lineup to face the final challenge.

The items in the first room are an Escape Rope, an X Accuracy and a Max Elixir, but if don't mind the random battles, you can search around more with the Itemfinder. Once you head to the next room (The exit is at the top of the map), you won't need Flash anymore.

Here's where Waterfall and Surf come into play. In the pool of water immediately to your left when you enter the room, Surf up and use Waterfall to get to a ledge. The room here holds a Max Revive. Return to the entrance and head up the stairs. When you can Surf, do so to get to a room with a Full Restore. The cave opening up ahead leads to your final challenge.

The best trainer in the entire game, and all his Pokemon are above level 70. If you've trained properly and have a bit of luck, you should be able to beat him at level 60.

* Pikachu, the first Pokemon, can be fainted in one shot by a strong Earthquake from a Ground-type Pokemon.* Espeon isn't difficult to beat either, a Dark-type or a Pokemon with high Special Defense should be able to take it down.* Snorlax will be a real difficulty. If you have a Ghost, Steel or Rock Pokemon you should be able to survive long enough. The difficulty comes when it uses Rest, or when Body Slam paralyses. Don't bother with status ailments as Rest will cancel its effects. Your best bet is to stick with strong physical attacks, especially Fighting attacks, and persevere.* Blastoise will attempt to use Rain Dance, then trap you with Whirlpool. If someone knows Thunder, use Rain Dance to your advantage, otherwise just hit it with strong Electric attacks.* While Venusaur has a deadly Sunny Day combo, use it to your advantage by hitting it with strong Fire attacks. Alternatively, use a Steel, Flying or Poison Pokemon for some resistance.* Finally, Charizard can be taken down with a powerful Water or Rock attack. If Sunny Day is in effect from Venusaur, Water damage is halved, and Flamethrower/Fire Spin's damage is boosted.

Since this is the final battle, don't be afraid to use your items - Full Restores come in handy here, and things like X Special and X Attack will help too. Give it everything you've got.

Red will disappear in a fadeout, and the credits will roll. That's it! You've beaten the toughest trainer in Pokemon Gold, Silver and Crystal. But don't worry, he'll be back so you can fight him again. Feel free to wander around the world, doing sidequests and completing your Pokedex. Well done on a long, but enjoyable game.